Although Edward Cheserek's quest for an unprecedented four national titles came up just short, his three championships (two relays and one individual) over the three day New Balance Nationals in N.Y. made him an easy choice to be awarded the Outstanding Boys Athlete of the meet.

Cheserek, a junior, split 4:07.5 as he came from behind on Friday night to give St. Benedict's Prep the victory in the distance medley relay in 10:10.08. He came back on Saturday with a 1:50.5 anchor to bring his team across first in the sprint medley in a a state record 3:25.88, No. 4 in U.S. history.

Then came Sunday's distance double attempt. Cheserek had no trouble winning the two-mile in 8:50.53 as he ran unchallenged for most of the race. Cheserek seemed destined to get his 4th title in the mile, but with less than an hour between races, he simply proved he was human and got caught by Brad Nye of Davis High in Utah with aboiut 15-20 meters left in the mile. Nye won in 4:08.67 and Cheserek was second in 4:09.07.

``My legs felt fine, but with less than an hour after the 2-mile I was breathing harder than usual in the mile,'' said Cheserek, the national 5-K record holder . `I tried to win it, but it just didn't happen. But that's okay. The important thing is that my team won 2 races and I won the 2 mile, so I am no dissappointed at all. I did the best I could.''

Cheserek's 3 national titles this weekend doubled his total to give him six national titles for his career. He won the 5-K and anchored the DM at nationals last June, and captured the Foot Locker cross-country national title in San Diego in December.